Teshik-Tash 1

Teshik-Tash 1
Teshik-Tash 1
Common nameTeshik-Tash 1
SpeciesHomo neanderthalensis
(mtDNA confirmed)[1]
AgeNo dates produced
Place discoveredTeshik-Tash Cave, Uzbek SSR, USSR
Date discovered1938
Discovered byAlexey Okladnikov
Map
Map

Teshik-Tash 1 is a Neanderthal skeleton discovered in 1938 in Teshik-Tash Cave, in the Bajsuntau mountain range, Uzbek SSR (Uzbekistan), Central Asia.

The remains were discovered in 1938 by A. P. Okladnikov.[2] They were found in a shallow pit, reported to be associated with five pairs of Siberian ibex horn cores. Through dental analysis the skull was said to have been an 8 to 11-year-old child. The horn cores were found around the perimeter of the grave surrounding the cranial remains. This has led a number of researchers to believe the child was ritually buried.[3]

The site was excavated in five cultural layers of sediment with Mousterian artifacts.[4][5]

Lack of adequate published material on the excavation [6] and the numerous Ibex bones (761) found led to this interpretation being questioned. Paul Mellars, questioning the ritual interpretation suggested that the bones may not have been deliberately placed.[7] Others (e.g., Gargett) believe it is no burial at all.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference WileyBlackwellTeshik-Tash was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Ash, Patricia J.; David J. Robinson (2010). The Emergence of Humans: An Exploration of the Evolutionary Timeline. Wiley. ISBN 978-0470013151.
  3. ^ Teshik-Tash, Uzbekistan. Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology, 01/2008, 2, ISBN 0199534047. Retrieved 2014-04-23.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference JoHE_2008 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Langer, William L., ed. (1972). An Encyclopedia of World History (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company. pp. 9. ISBN 0-395-13592-3.
  6. ^ Jurmain, Robert; Lynn Kilgore; Wenda Trevathan (2006). Essentials of Physical Anthropology. Wadsworth Publishing. p. 264. ISBN 978-0495030614.
  7. ^ Winzeler, Robert L. (2007). Anthropology and Religion: What We Know, Think, and Question. Altamira Press. p. 51. ISBN 978-0759110465.